I had been living in the US for the past 8 years and had attended many of the US gaming conventions. It helped that I had an apartment directly across from the Convention Centre in San Jose when I lived in Silicon Valley, so could easily drop in to see the latest in Gaming tech. With a teenage son, I had gotten back into gaming after a number of years away from my retro gaming past. When I returned to Ireland and attended one or two smaller gaming events it was clear that there was an opportunity, not just in Ireland, but in many European Countries for a large-scale Gaming Convention. In Ireland, in particular, there has not been a gaming convention on this scale before and we believe the market is ready to welcome GamerCon in a big way in 2017. In addition, we plan to bring GamerCon to a European audience with additional shows in the works. Our next will be in London in the summer of 2017 and we look forward to sharing more details of this in the new year.

We are excited to create a social event of this scale for Gamers across Ireland. What I witnessed in the large scale shows in the US in particular was the camaraderie amongst gamers, and the enjoyment they got from moving from the online gaming environment to the offline, real-world environment. It gives gamers the chance to spend time with like-minded individuals, meet some of their favourite gaming YouTubers, and in the case of Cosplay attendees, express themselves visually in an environment where they can be completely relaxed and feel at-home.

What can people look forward to in terms of demos and new things showcased?

As you might expect we are planning some first views, some early access previews and some first plays from the major studios. We will announce these closer to the event date. In addition we plan to showcase some of the wonderful home-grown talent that we have in the Indie gaming scene. One of the highlights we expect from the event will be the PlayStation VR zone. Virtual Reality has the opportunity to have a seismic effect on the world of Gaming, so giving people the opportunity to experience this first hand will be a real treat for most people.

Any big names in gaming attending?

To date we have announced some of the leading Gaming YouTubers such as UberDanger and JeromeASF, as well as some for the younger gamer – Little Carly, Little Kelly and MineVengers. We are however planning further announcements around global Gaming superstars that we know attendees will be extremely excited about, so we look forward to sharing the details with you at the time.

How has the last 12 months been? Anything you would do differently? / Insights learned?

The last 12 months has been extremely exciting for us as we have been working to bring the GamerCon concept to market. As this is our first year we are keen to bring the very best of every aspect of gaming to Ireland. Working with GameStop in recent months has been a pleasure as we partner to bring the major console companies, the games developers and the major hardware and gaming peripheral companies to the event. We recognised early on that it’s been challenging for a long period of time for true gamers to get access to leading edge peripherals. We’ve also seen a significant number of gamers travelling to the UK or further afield to attend a large scale convention. With GamerCon we are seeking not just to give Gamers an opportunity to attend a show that easily compares with the best that Europe has to offer, but also establishes itself as a yearly fixture in the Gaming Calendar.

How can people find out more about you / buy tickets?

Tickets can be purchased at any GameStop Store nationwide or online at www.gamer-con.com/tickets

Anything else you’d like to add / should have asked?

Just that we cannot wait for the event and we encourage readers of Irish Tech News to get themselves along to GamerCon!

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